MLS: Union prepare to battle with Seattle

CHESTER — Two weeks ago, a struggling D.C. United team that had scored only two goals in six games matched that total in 90 minutes against the Philadelphia Union.

Entering last Saturday, the New England Revolution hadn’t had one of their players score a goal in six matches; they broke out of that in a big way with a 2-0 win.

For a third straight week, the Union will face a team struggling to get on the score sheet in the early stages of the MLS season. Today’s meeting with Seattle Sounders, goes the consensus around the team, will be different.

The Sounders (1-3-2, 5 points) have reason to believe that a resurgence is on the horizon that is fueled by more than facing a recently porous Union squad. Injuries and a busy early-season schedule that has included a berth in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League have made for a sluggish start to the MLS season, the Sounders scoring just three times goals and sitting in the basement of the Western Conference.

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The injury bug that has bitten them early is starting to relent. Niggling injuries are still hounding starting forwards Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins, the latter a recent designated-player acquisition from Levante in Spain. But those and knocks to midfielders Steve Zakuani and Shalrie Joseph appear to be easing, giving longtime Sounders coach Sigi Schmid nearly a full squad at his disposal for selection.

It’ll present another daunting challenge to a Union defense that has surrendered 12 goals in eight matches, the third-most in MLS. But there’s a clear distinction to be made in the mind of manager John Hackworth as to where culpability in those goals lies.

“I feel like our defense has been a strong point for us this year,” Hackworth said Wednesday at his weekly press conference. “That hasn’t been one of our issues. Where we need to do a better job in our opinion is staying more compact, closing down the passing lanes better and that has a lot to do with the lines. It’s not just the defensive line, the midfield line, the forward line. In the last two games specifically, those have been problem situations. … but I’m not pinpointing our defense as a problem area this year.”

Hackworth has trotted out the same four defenders all season, even with established options like Chris Albright and wantaway veteran Bakary Soumare languishing on the bench. Hackworth reiterated this week that both are available for selection and that a midweek game May 15 against Los Angeles means some changes may be on the horizon. But he also expressed his inclination to be that the best thing the young defense corps — Amobi Okugo, Ray Gaddis and Sheanon Williams are all age 23 or young — is to continue to work out the kinks.

Just what those problems are seem to be a much thornier question. Through the first six matches, the Union were giving up fewer chances (an average of 10.3 shots and 3 shots on goal per game) but falling victim to breakdowns at inopportune times. The last two games have been the opposite, with D.C. and New England creating 16.5 shots and 6 shots on goal per game.

“We want to try to find the way we played the first six,” Hackworth said. “And we have to kind of shore up some of our defensive holes that allowed both D.C. and New England to get those opportunities in the first place. That’s something we’ve worked on in training this week with the guys. We have to do that in order to be successful against Seattle.”

“The first six games, we felt like we did a good job of limiting teams’ chances,” Okugo said. “Unfortunately in those games, the chances that we did give them, they were good chances and they were able to capitalize on them. But the last two games it hasn’t been good enough from front to back, from the forward line to the midfield line to the defense. As a group we have to defend better. Giving up two games a game is not the identity we want to establish as the Philadelphia Union.”

What that entails is an improvement of the working relationship within the back four.

“More communication, being tighter to our marks, limiting their chances obviously and just getting after them and organizing better because I don’t think as a group in the back we organized well last week,” defender Jeff Parke said. “The game (against New England) was pretty spread out and they had their chances a lot more than we’ve let up to most teams. We can’t let that happen against a quality team like this when they get in here. It’s important that we get after then early, set the tone, be physical and definitely get tight with them because they have the players that if you give them space and time, they can hurt you.”